9-27-04
PENN STATE BEHREND INTERNATIONAL FILM SERIES PRESENTS GOODBYE, LENIN!
The Penn State Behrend International Film Series will show the 2003 German film Goodbye, Lenin! on Monday, October 18, at 7:00 p.m. in the Reed Union Building, room 117. The showing is free and open to the public.
Alexander Kerner, his mother Christiane, and sister Ariane live in East Germany in 1989. Christiane upholds the communist values of her society to the point of fanaticism. Alexander, who opposes the regime, becomes involved in a scuffle with the police, and is arrested while his mother watches from afar. Due to the stress from this event, Christiane suffers a heart attack. After his release from jail, Alexander finds his mother in a coma in the hospital.
Eight months later, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the triumph of capitalism, Christiane wakes up to a very different world. The doctor warns Alexander that news of the changed political circumstances might kill the very frail Christiane. Alexander, his sister, and their neighbors must participate in a ruse to keep Christiane believing all is as it was. "Fast and funny, intriguing and touching," the film is original in its subject matter and "tells a story that is as unique as it is irresistible, an alternative history to that of the recent German past."
For more information on the International Film Series, contact 814-898-7161.
Media Contact: Jen Town, 814-898-6522, jlt234@psu.edu